Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²"This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded: Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, and which was never yoked.

³You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face:

⁴and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.

⁵One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

⁶and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

⁷Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.

⁸He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

⁹"A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water for impurity: it is a sin offering.

¹⁰He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.

¹¹"He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days:

¹²the same shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he doesn't purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

¹³Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn't purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet on him.

¹⁴"This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁵Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean.

¹⁶"Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷"For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

¹⁸and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave:

¹⁹and the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.

²⁰But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

²¹It shall be a perpetual statute to them: and he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

²²"Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening."

¹The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

²There was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

³The people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying, "We wish that we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

⁴Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?

⁵Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink."

⁶Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸"Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink."

⁹Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you water out of this rock for you?"

¹¹Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

¹²The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

¹³These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:

¹⁵how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers:

¹⁶and when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border.

¹⁷"Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border."

¹⁸Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you."

¹⁹The children of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then will I give its price: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet."

²⁰He said, "You shall not pass through." Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand.

²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

²²They traveled from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

²³The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴"Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;

²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be taken, and shall die there."

²⁷Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

¹The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.

²Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

³The Lord listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.

⁴They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

⁵The people spoke against God, and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread."

⁶The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.

⁷The people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."

⁹Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the standard: and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of brass, he lived.

¹⁰The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth.

¹¹They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise.

¹²From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered.

¹³From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that comes out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the Lord, "Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon,

¹⁵the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab."

¹⁶From there they traveled to Beer: that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."

¹⁷Then sang Israel this song: "Spring up, well; sing to it:

¹⁸the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles." From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;

¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.

²¹Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

²²"Let me pass through your land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed your border."

²³Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel.

²⁴Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

²⁵Israel took all these cities: and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns.

²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon.

²⁷Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established;

²⁸for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba."

³¹Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

³²Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its towns, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³They turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."

³⁵So they struck him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land.

¹Now it happened in those days, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

²This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

⁴Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

⁵to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him, being pregnant.

⁶It happened, while they were there, that the day had come that she should give birth.

⁷She brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and placed him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

⁹Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

¹¹For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Messiah, the Lord.

¹²This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough."

¹³Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased."

¹⁵It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the men, the shepherds, said one to another, "Let us go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

¹⁶They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

¹⁷When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.

¹⁸All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

²¹When eight days were fulfilled to circumcise him, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²When the days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),

²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

²⁵Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.

²⁷He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the requirement of the Law,

²⁸then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹"Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;

³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation,

³¹which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;

³²a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel."

³³And his father and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him,

³⁴and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

³⁵Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

³⁶There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,

³⁷and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fastings and petitions night and day.

³⁸Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹When they had accomplished all things that were according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

⁴⁰The child was growing, and was becoming strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

⁴¹His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

⁴²When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast,

⁴³and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

⁴⁴but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.

⁴⁶It happened after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.

⁴⁷All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you."

⁴⁹He said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

⁵⁰They did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.

⁵¹And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;

³though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.

⁴There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

⁵God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.

⁶The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.

⁷The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

⁸Come, see the Lord's works, what desolations he has made in the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.

¹⁰"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

¹A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly.

³The Lord's eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.

⁵A fool despises his father's correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence.

⁶In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but the income of the wicked brings trouble.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so with the heart of fools.

⁸The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows after righteousness.

¹⁰There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: whoever hates reproof shall die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon are before the Lord- how much more then the hearts of the children of men!

¹²A scoffer doesn't love to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a cheerful face; but an aching heart breaks the spirit.

¹⁴The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹⁵All the days of the afflicted are wretched, but one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.

¹⁶Better is little, with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.

¹⁷Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fattened calf with hatred.

¹⁸A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.

¹⁹The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding keeps his way straight.

²²Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.

²³Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!

²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise, to keep him from going downward to Sheol.

²⁵The Lord will uproot the house of the proud, but he will keep the widow's borders intact.

²⁶The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.

²⁷He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.

²⁸The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.

²⁹The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones.

³¹The ear that listens to reproof lives, and will be at home among the wise.

³²He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding.

³³The fear of the Lord teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.